WildStar Launches in June, Pre-Orders Open Soon

Ready to take on the second hotly anticipated MMORPG this year? After yesterday’s leak, Carbine Studios has officially announced the release details for WildStar, the game whose roots just scream World of Warcraft. The studio was founded by former Blizzard staff, after all.

Don’t let that mislead you though, for WildStar is more than just a clone. The game’s early appeal lies in Carbine’s promise to provide raid content for large groups – something fairly lacking today – though the game’s charming world and telegraph-heavy combat have given WildStar its own identity to stand on. There are the excellent DevSpeak videos if you want to learn more.

One other unique feature would be its business model, which bears resemblance to EVE Online. After the first 30 days are up, players can either purchase a monthly subscription or purchase an in-game item (C.R.E.D.D.) with in-game gold to extend play time. You can find out more about that here.

On to the pre-order bonuses then; Regardless of which edition you go for, putting in your money early will get you these:

Exclusive Rocket House

Exclusive Housing Trophy

Exclusive In-Game Title: “Chosen of the Progenitors”

Access to Beta Weekends (Four of them)

3-Day Head Start (31st May, after final beta wipe)

In-gam Storage Bag

And More!

What’s a Rocket House, you ask?

It’s not all good news though. The only servers available will be in North America and Europe, with no cross-region support. While latency didn’t pose a problem for me, it remains to be seen how it’ll hold up during a raid, especially when there’s such a strong focus on staying mobile.

WildStar releases on 3 June 2014 for Windows PC. Time to find some guildmates!